Shirt board



July 21, 1936. s 2,048,551

SHIRT BOARD Filed Sept. 19, 1929 [NVENTOR Georye fitde rz'c} M195 ATTORNEY.

Patented July 21, 1936 UNl-TED- STATES FICE This invention relates to a one piece'shirt board adapted for use in shirt factories and laundries and for possible other purposes.

An object of the invention is'toprovide a one piece shirt board which is cut in such a manner as to adapt it for folding so that when folded it will overlie both the inside and outside of a shirt so that the shirt will be maintained in'a rigid, smooth condition in which it is well protected both at they front and back and may be conveniently handled without likelihood of becoming; soiled or disarranged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shirt board upon which the shirt may be put in place by an easy folding operation and from'which it may be as readily removed. The operation of folding and unfolding is aided by the fact that it is unnecessary to: use pins or other fastening devices to hold the shirt in place upon the board.

Still another object of theinvention is to more securely retain a shirt in place in its smooth folded position upon the board and to provide ready access to the shirt so that it may be;quickly. removed by a single operation.

Among other objects and advantagesof-the invention isthe provision of means whereby the shirt may be held and removed fromthe board in such a manner that it is in position to insert the collar button; improved means for securely hold ing the sleeves in place without the use of pins or other fastening devices; elimination of side. play of the shirt when in place upon thboard, and in general to improve upon devices of this classwith respect to low cost of manufacture and general 35 convenience in use. Owing to the extraordinarily.

low cost at which the appliance maybe manufac-' tured and the provision of suitable. space thereon when in use it is adaptedtoflbeused' advantageously as an advertisin'gjdejvice'l' 40 An important objectfis' to provide aselfcon tained shirt board adaptedto have a shirt folded thereon, and to provide novel means on said board whereby such board may be folded so ,as-to partially cover the shirt .onits front and backanfd to encircle the shirt 'to preventaccidental side movement of the-shirt on the shirt board.

A still further objectis toprovide ainovel shirt board whereby theshirt' w'ill beheld upon the boardand the sleeve retained thereonWvithout 50 other'means than thatcontainedon the board itself.

An objectiis to providea'n'ovel; simple; shirt boardthat maybe used bylaundries and also used by factories orothers desiring 5130" foldtthe shirt in- What i dw ac orv fold Other objects, advantages, and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detail description, and the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing which 5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a front plan view of the device with' a shirt mounted thereon in an approved folded condition, the appliance beingshown in the form 10 generally used by laundries.

Fig. 2 is a rear plan view'of the appliance and shirt positioned with respect to each other as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the board and. shirt showing an intermediatestep of the opera tion of mounting the shirt upon the board.- Apart: of the shirt is broken away to contract the View.

,Fig. 4 is-a front plan perspective view of the shirtmounted upon the board and folded toa form or size generally used by factories orfor traveling purposes.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the complete board, the same being inthe extended position, showing-the various 'flaps and foldable elements cut prepar'a tory to'being arranged into position for use;

Referring in detail to the drawing, the shirt board 1 is desirably made of cardboard, being constructed' in a single rectangular piece having abody portion 8, nearer one end than the other of" which the board is provided with a. transverse folding' line or line of flexure 9, thereby marking'ofi from saidbody portion 8 an outside flap l l and an inside flap l2.-

Said inside flap I2 is separated from said out-- side flap H by a symmetrical cut l lwhich shown in the drawing, is outourved at, l5;towa-rd the adjacent end of the shirt board and whichis "provided with an indentation l6 ateach side; near itsbase, the ends of saidcut terminating at 40 said folding line 9. r I

Said flapnIZ will, at times, be referred to as the mainfiap in order to distinguish it from the, auxiliaryflap-ZE, and thesmall inner fiap 2|, both the latteriiaps lying within the flap l2 and hav-' ing their bases terminating at said line of "flexure 9.

Said inside flap 2| is formed by and betweentwo similar side cuts 22, these cuts preferably being slightly separated at the. mid-width of the flap by an uncut area 23 which mayreadily be broken through to free said flap 2| foruse;

The auxiliary flap Zil lies between'ithe' main flap; l2 and theinner flap2l. Saidauxiliary flapzlis separated from the. main,flapnll byptwogsimllan .5:

cuts 25 which are preferably slightly separated at 26' at the mid-width of these flaps. This un- 1 cut area 26 is readily broken through by-the fingers to free flap 20. The cuts 25'are so shaped as to provide the auxiliary flap 20 with an ear 20c i flaps or ears 30. The free ends of these last flaps;

are directed toward each other, being slightly separated from each other at the mid-width of 'the board and their bases terminating 'at lines of flexure 3| which are located near. the outer sides of the m'ainflap; These finger flaps 30 when extended outwardly, are each of them wincientlylong to extend beyond the edge portions of the board and to have 'their terminal portions 7 .bentba'ck a considerable. distance upon the opposite' face thereof.

In addition to the flaps which have thus far been enumerated theboard is provided, near the flexure 9 an'don the side thereof opposite to the main .flap I2, with the transversely spaced oppo sitely disposed longitudinal straight cuts 35 each 7 of which is joined at 'one end'b'y an outwardly idirec'tcdcurved cut 36, thus forming similarly shaped'locking flaps or ears 31. V V V Also,iat about the mid-length of the board there 7 isrcutjinto each side thereof a out having the 'formof a compound curve and which, withre- 'lgard'to its general direction, is inclined from the edge of the sheet toward the ears 31 or the line of flexure 9. r

r The operation of mounting'the shirt upon the 7 board is as follows: The shirt is placed upon a table top or any suitable support T with the front or bosom portionthereof downward or lying directly upon the support; The shirt board is then laid upon the shirt lergthwise thereofbat substantially the mid-width of the shirt and, if the 4' 1: shirt is of the type illustrated in the drawing, the

inside flap 2| is pushed out so as to free the uncut.

area'23 and flap 2| is then inserted in the collar band a in the usual space provided therein to 'receive the back collar button. Then the two side. 5 portions of the shirt that extend beyond the'sides of the board are folded over the .boardtoward each other until they occupy the position illus- 1 trated in Fig. 3. The sleeves of the shirtare then brought into position so that their shoulder portions areslipped under the flaps or ears 31 (see Fig.3) after which the flaps 31 are pinched'into their respective openings and thereby lock the sleeves upon the board, the sleeves'are then folded in any; desired manner, preferably within 6'01 the-confines of the body portion 8. The't'ail or skirt portion of the shirt is then folded 'upon the body portion 8, and then the inside flap l2 and the outside flap II are folded in opposite direc- 'tions' so that they respectively engage-or lie 1 6'5- against the backand front of the shirt as mounted upOn the board; The transversely ex'tending flaps 30 are. then pushed out of the main flap 12 toward the longitudinal sides of the shirt board and the terminal'portions b of said flaps 30 are 7 then bent around the edge of the shirt and board and overthe flap II and are then bent upon themselves'so that the extreme terminal portion thereof will lie underneath the flap II." The character of cardboard that is used provides suin- 7}" cie'nt rigidity to the. flaps 30 sothat they willof tion arem'oved-to folded positions.

themselves be retained in locking position without requiring the use of auxiliary means.

' From the foregoing it willrbe seen that the opening in flap ll provided by cutting out and removing flap l2 therefrom, is large enough to 5 receive the neck portion of any standard size shirt whether constructed with a collar band or collar attached. The flaps ll, l2, and'3l! are so proportioned relative to each other that the flaps 30 easily encircle the edge-of theshirt board and Q v 1 are received in the opening provided by the flap I2. This construction eliminates the necessity of other shirt encircling means and also prevents the shirt from being accidentally displaced sidewise upon the board after all the elements are 15 connected together.

If a factory fold is desired, the lower portion" 11 of the shirt-andlboard is merely tucked under the flap H .as shownin Fig. 4. r

:tothose skilled in the art. 1 a

When it is desired to remove the shirtfrom" the board, the shirt and board are grasped in the handas though-to insert'the back collar button; after which the flap I2 andrfingers orffiaps 30 are I released in any suitable manner, or the shirt tail or skirt withdrawn from under the flap I2, and

by pulling upon the sleeves, they are unlocked 5 I from the ears 3! and the sides of the shirt board 7 r at the upper portions thereof are permitted to 7 move toward each other by reason of the compound cuts 40, permitting the fingers or flaps 30 to be releasedfrom locking engagement with flap ll and'thereby permitting the shirt to fall open and free from the "shirt board. r

When a shirt with collar attached is desired to "be mounted upon myshirt board, instead of using the flap 2| for 'co-operation with'the collar band-,ajs heretoforedescribed, the flap .20 isused syrea mg thepncut area 26 and such fiapris inserted in thecollar. The use of the flap, 20'

eliminatesthe necessity of a separate cardboard strip that'is now used by many. laundries and by cutting the'sides .of the flap was shown in Fig. 5,

the'collar, if desired, may be folded flat in a manner-that will be apparent. r I

Iclaim: 7' V v g 1. A shirt board having a. transverse folding line and a 'flap cut from said board andhaving its base located substantially at said folding line, said Iflapbeing foldablelengthwise of the board upon one face thereof and the uncut, portion of;

the board from whichsaidfiap is out being re versely v foldable'along said folding line, upen theopposite face. thereof, and means out outfrom s aid fiapia'nd adapted/to extend overthe edges of. said boardfand ,to connect said vflap and the said uncut'portionwhen said fiap and uncut por- 2. A shirt board; havlnga transverse folding line which is locatednearer one'end of the board than theotherthereby dividing the board into a long and .a short end portion, and a flap cut from i the short end portion of. said board and having'its base located substantially at saidffolding line,

said'flap being foldable down upon one face of said board and the remainder of said shortiend portion of the board being fo1dabledown'u o 5':

the opposite face thereof and means out out from said flap adapted to extend over the edges of said board and to connect said flap and the said short end portion when said flap and short end portion are moved to folded positions.

3. A shirt board comprising a fiat elongate body portion having a transverse folding line; a main flap having its base located substantially at said folding line and foldable down upon one face of said body portion; an auxiliary flap out out within the outline of said main flap and having its base portion located substantially at said folding line and foldable down upon the other face of said body portion, said auxiliary flap when folded upon said body portion leaving a recess in said main flap and through which recess the collar of a shirt mounted on said board will extend when said main flap is folded upon the opposite face of said body portion.

4. A shirt board having at one end a cut out portion forming a main flap adapted to be folded upon the body portion of said shirt board, and a transversely foldable flap cut out within the outlines of said main flap, said transversely foldable flap being of such length and so positioned as to be foldable over and around an edge portion of said board and then have its terminal portion hooked around the edge of the opening formed by the cutting out of said main flap.

5. A shirt board having two flaps which are extensible in opposite directions into positions wherein they project beyond edge portions of the board, said board having also a foldable end portion with an opening therethrough which is opposite to said flaps when said end portion is in the folded position, the end portions of said flaps being adapted at such time to be folded inwardly from their extended position and hooked around opposite edges of said opening, to retain said end portion of the board in the folded position.

6. A shirt board comprising a body portion having cuts therein adjacent an end thereof, said cuts forming tabs adapted to leave an opening into which the sleeves of a shirt are adapted to be retained by said tabs, and a flap at the same end of the board adapted to fold down upon one face of said board to hold in place the neck portion of a shirt, the width of said board being sufiiciently restricted to allow a shirt folded along the midwidth of the garment to extend across both sides of said board.

7. A shirt board comprising a body portion and a foldable portion at one end thereof; a main flap member cut out of said foldable portion, said main flap and the remainder of the foldable portion being adapted to be folded upon opposite sides of said body portion; and means connected to said main flap adapted to overlap the edges of said body portion and to secure said main flap and foldable portion together.

8. A shirt board comprising a body portion having a cut'therein along opposite sides in the form of a compound curve; flaps connected to one end of said body portion and being adapted to be folded upon opposite sides of said body portion; and means connected to one of said flaps adapted to encircle the edges of said body portion and to be secured in flap locking position with the other of said flaps.

9. A one piece rectangular shirt board having a body adapted to have a shirt mounted on and folded about said body so that said body will be positioned inside the folds of said shirt; and flaps extending from one end of said body adapted to be folded about the shirt mounted on said body so that said end flaps will be positioned on both outsides of said shirt; and locking flaps cut out of and integral with one of said end flaps, said locking flaps adapted to encircle the edges of said board and to engage the other of said end flaps to retain said shirt and folded end flaps of said board compact.

10. A shirt board comprising a body portion having cuts therein along opposite sides, each in the form of a compound curve; and locking flaps cut out of said body portion adapted to form retaining means for the sleeves of a shirt mounted upon said board.

11. A shirt board having a transverse folding line, thereby dividing said board into a body portion and a flap portion, said fiap portion hav ing separated therefrom an inside flap, and said inside flap having cut out therefrom a small inner flap.

12. A shirt board having a transverse folding line, thereby dividing said board into a body portion and a flap portion, said flap portion having separated therefrom an inside flap, said inside flap having cut out therefrom a small inner flap; and flaps cut out from said inside flap and adapted to be extended in opposite directions to project beyond and encircle the longitudinal edges of said body portion.

13. The combination of a shirt board and a shirt folded around said board, said shirt board 

